Alexander Tarakanov: ‘Our team achieved historic success by claiming three gold medals at World Championship’

Interview of Alexander Tarakanov, head coach of Azerbaijan’s Greco-Roman wrestling team, to Report.

– High results were expected from our team at the Olympics in Paris. But only 1 bronze medal was claimed. Less than three months later, you achieved historic success, winning three gold medals at the World Championship. How can you explain such a difference in results?

– Yes, we all hoped for high results in Paris 2024. The preparation for the competitions was at a high level. The Federation provided all conditions. We conducted quality training camps both in the country and abroad. The results we achieved throughout the cycle gave confidence in success. However, certain mistakes and nuances prevented us from performing better. Additionally, the team is going through a transition period. After the Olympics, we rested a bit and resumed training. After holding camps in Guba and Baku, we brought the team’s preparation to an optimal state. The result turned out as we wanted.

– Can this success at the World Championship in non-Olympic weight categories be highly evaluated?

– In words, everything might seem easy. In reality, there was quite strong competition in this tournament. Many Olympic champions, medalists, and World and European champions who didn’t participate in the last Olympics changed weight categories and took part in this World Championship. Among them were two-time Olympic champion, five-time World and European champion Abdulrashid Sadulayev, Olympic champion and six-time World champion Jordan Burroughs, Olympic champion and three-time World champion David Taylor, Olympic champion and two-time World champion Zaur Uguyev.

Overall, there were quite strong wrestlers in all three styles. However, our athletes managed to show character in conditions of high competition. Eldaniz Azizli (55 kg) became the first four-time World champion in Azerbaijan wrestling history. This success is the result of many years of hard work. Our 32-year-old wrestler is an inspiration for our young athletes. Nihat Mammadli saw the best year of his career. He claimed gold at the European Championship in the 60 kg category and at the World Championship in the 63 kg category. He’s only 22 years old. If he continues in the same spirit, he can achieve great success.

Ulvi Ganizada (72 kg) successfully completed unfinished business from two years ago, exchanging silver for gold. Only Gurban Gurbanov (82 kg) stopped one step away from a medal. It was his first time competing in the adult world championship. The wrestling world knows how promising he is. I believe Gurban will continue to rejoice us with his victories. In any case, given the increased competition in world wrestling in recent years, the fact that one of our teams won 3 gold medals at the world championship is a historic success. In one day, Azerbaijan’s national anthem played three times. We managed to surprise everyone. We became world team champions for the second time in a row.

I would also like to note that in the next Olympic cycle, we plan for Nihat Mammadli, Ulvi Ganizada, and Gurban Gurbanov to compete in Olympic weight classes. We believe that younger wrestlers should compete more in non-Olympic weight categories to mature and prepare for Olympic categories.

– The new Olympic cycle has begun. How do you assess the potential of teenagers and youth in the team’s core?

– Currently, we are going through a generational change, the process which is painful in many countries. Champions aren’t replaced by athletes of their level. But we don’t have problems in this regard. Our success at European and World championships in age groups U-15, U-17, U-20, and U-23 shows that the national team has a strong and broad base. Moreover, before these competitions, the U-23 World Championship was held in the same place (Albania). Azerbaijan won 2 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze medals. This is quite a good result. I especially would like to note the success of Jala Aliyeva, who became our first representative to win in women’s wrestling at this level. This shows that this type of wrestling has sufficient prospects in the country.

– We’ve repeatedly seen athletes who achieve success in younger age groups but fail to succeed among adults. Why does it happen?

– I admit that in wrestling, we sometimes face such defeats for certain reasons. When changing categories, an athlete’s character is revealed. More determined wrestlers successfully make this transition. It’s very important to work on oneself, overcome difficulties, especially at the stage of weight change. In this sense, a great burden falls on both national team coaches and personal trainers. It’s very important to properly regulate and control wrestlers’ development process. Overall, we have good integration of teenagers and youth into the main team.

– What are your future plans?

– The Azerbaijan Championship, which serves as a selection tournament for the national team, will take place at the end of the year. All leading wrestlers are expected to participate in this competition. Based on the championship results, we will form a team and begin preparation for competitions that will take place in 2025.